With his company being liquidated he approached the Mercury to tell his side of the story in the hope he could recoup more than $100,000 he said is owed to creditors. He said the WCC plans:

Underestimated the size of a cavity in the northern pool wall,

Did not properly consider a 200mm rise in sea level since the pool was built a century ago,

Could not be achieved without temporary footings, and

Did not allow for flexibility or alternative designs.

Mr Lee said a tide of close to 0.0m was the only time work could be done – a handful of hours a year. He said a breakwall, or footings strip, could be built outside the pool – but a permit was needed from NSW Fisheries and WCC would not get one as it would take months.

Mr Lee said when he met with WCC managers to talk over options for varying the approach, he was told he had just days to finish it or he would be charged the $500 per day. Mr Lee said this was impossible, decided he had a “hostile client” and had no choice but to liquidate.

“They weren’t fair and reasonable.,” he said. “They were a hostile client as far as I’m concerned.

“I’ve done it before – I’ve worked with councils. I like tricky jobs. If it wasn’t for their design I would have got it done. The fact was, it was an unworkable design – and when we raised that with council they told us, basically, ‘too bad, build it’.

“The community has a right to know. The council needs to be accountable.”

He said he tried to enter mediation via the Small Business Commissioner but WCC refused to talk.

Wollongong council dodges queries on plans

The Mercury sent Wollongong City Council a list of detailed questions about the Austinmer pool design and the issues raised by Michael Lee.

But council, through its media unit, dodged all of the questions, other than saying it “strongly denied” all of the claims.

Questions about whether the design was flawed, whether council could have been more flexible, and why permits were not obtained from Fisheries, were ignored.

“Following the liquidation of Specialised Marine Services in late 2014, the liquidator has made several claims against Wollongong City Council. Council has strongly denied all of those claims,” a spokesman said.

“Affective Services is currently working through the challenging issues associated with this project.”

“Work to the pools require low-low tides and calm sea conditions. While the tide conditions can be forecast, the size of the seas and swell are not able to be predicted.

”This week, the contractor has returned to site and, provided the tide, sea and swell conditions are suitable, will carry out further pre-cast panel installation works to the eastern wall of the southern pool and further improvement works to the central concourse over the next few weeks.

“A stainless steel handrail to the eastern wall of the southern pool will also be installed.”